Package of flexible material for twistless payout and method of producing the same

ABSTRACT

A flexible material is wound with a universal wind into a package of generally spherical shape having an axial opening therethrough, by winding the material on the mandrel with a guide which moves along the face of the package being formed on the mandrel, the stroke of the guide being gradually reduced as the package is built up. The package has a radial hole built into it during the winding. The package is then compressed axially of the opening left by the removal of the spindle into an elongated package of substantially circular cross section in the plane of compression. The compression is so oriented that the opening is positioned in one of the ends of the oval shaped packages, and the inner end of the mandrel is let out through this opening. In order to prevent collapse of the package during shipment and to allow the use of a small mandrel, a flexible material of substantially greater cross section than the material to be packaged is wound on the mandrel during the first stages, and the end of the material to form the package is attached to this strip and the package is then wound. The end of the larger material is brought out through the opening and this material is removed when payout of the package is desired.

United States Patent 3,Q6l,238 10/1962 Taylor,Jr......

James W. Newman Scarsdale, N.Y. 819,630

Apr. 28, 1969 Feb. 23, 1971 windings, Inc.

[72] Inventor [21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee [54] PACKAGE 0F FLEXIBLE MATERIAL FOR TWISTLESS PAYOUT AND METHOD OF Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney-Jennings Bailey, Jr.

ABSTRACT: A flexible material is wound with a universal wind into a package of generally spherical shape having an axial opening therethrough, by winding the material on the mandrel with a guide which moves along the face of the package being formed on the mandrel, the stroke of the guide being gradually reduced as the package is built up. The package has a radial hole built into it during the winding. The package is then compressed axially of the opening left by the removal of the spindle into an elongated package ofsubstantially circular cross section in the plane of compression. The compression is so oriented that the opening is positioned in one of the ends of the oval shaped packages, and the inner end of the mandrel is let out through this opening.

In order to prevent collapse of the package during shipment and to allow the use of a small mandrel, a flexible material of substantially greater cross section than the material to be packaged is wound on the mandrel during the first stages, and the end of the material to form the package is attached to this strip and the package is then wound. The end of the larger material is brought out through the opening and this material is removed when payout of the package is desired.

PATENTED M12 19?! 3565365 SHEET 2 OF 2 AT'TOIENIE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a package of flexible material intended to pay out without twisting from a stationary condition.

2. The Prior Art Packages are known as for example from Taylor US. Pat. No. 2,767,938 which pay out fromthe inside of a universal wind package through a radial opening in order to avoid twist. Such packages are also known which are compressed axially in order to provide a greater amount of material within a given space.

PRIOR APPLICATIONS A prior application, Ser. No. 709,305 filed Feb. 29, 1968, shows a package of the universal wind type formed by winding on a pair of spaced cylindrical rods, with'theinner end of the material coming out through a radial opening in the longer side of the resulting oval wind. The wind described in that application is of equal thickness through its center.

Such a winding is very effective insofar as pay out is con cerned. However, in many instances itis desirable'to havea winding which will fit into a cylindrical space, and which will be as compact as possible, while still paying out without twist. The package of .the prior application'does not meet these requirements.

Furthermore, it is much easier, particularly where high speeds are desired, to wind on a cylindrical orsubstantially cylindrical mandrel, than on the mandrel such as shown in the prior application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a package of the nature of a universal wind is formed, preferably on a cylindrical mandrel, with a guide which moves along the face of the package as it builds up, the travel of the guide being gradually reduced during the winding process so that there is formed a substantially spherical package with an axial opening therethrough. During the winding, a radial opening is formed through the package. The finished package is then deformed by pressure from opposite sides directed radially inwardly until the package assumes a substantially elliptical shape. This means that the opening in the center of the package is reduced in cross sectional area and therefore in volume, since the periphery remains the same and the deviation of the central opening from a circular shape means a reduction in its crosssectional area. The deforming force is exerted in such a direction that the radial hole is in one of the smallend portions I of the resulting elliptical shape and the inner free end of the material is let out through this opening. The resulting package is substantially cylindrical in cross section with rounded ends, and can be quite compact, the inner space depending on the amount of inward deformation applied.

In order to reduce the risk of displacement of the inner layers during handling and shipping, it may be desirable to use originally a somewhat smaller mandrel and to wind first on this mandrel a flexible material of larger cross section such as rope or tape, capable however of passing out through the hole, and to attach to the outer free end of this the beginning end of the material to be packaged. The result is that this larger size material can be drawn out through the hole when payout is to.

be initiated, whereas during shipment it substantially fills the central opening and prevents inward displacement of the inner layers of the material to be packaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. I shows in cross section a package produced according to the invention before deformation thereof;

FIG. 2 shows on a smaller scale an end view of the package of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an end view, partly in section, of the package of FIG. 1 after deformation;

FIG. 4 shows an end view of the package .of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the userof a.

material of larger cross section inside the package.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, a package 2 is first produced by winding a universal wind on a cylindrical spindle, by means of a guide the travel of which is readily reduced so that the inner layers are the full width of the final package while the subsequent layers gradually decrease in width. This produces then a package with generally spherical ends having an axial opening 6 therethrough, as indicated in FIG. 1. During the winding, a radial hole 8 is formed in the package, for example, in the manner described in the Taylor patent referred to above.

This resulting package is now compressed axially from the two sides in directions perpendicular to the axis of hole 8.This results in a package which in side elevation has the arrange ment shown in FIG. 3 and which inend view has the shape shown in FIG. 4. This package is generally oval in side view with a central opening 10 of reduced width and of reduced.

area. The hole 8 comes out of one of the ends of the oval, and the free inner end 12 of the material islet out through the opening 8.

It will be noted that, because the material is wound in substantially spherical shape to begin with, the resulting .package has a substantially circular. cross section in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the ellipse, with substantially hemispherical ends.

Such a package then has a good ratioof wound material to volume and can also be-fitted into a cylindrical space and can payout from the end of such space-which is desirable in many applications, particularly in underwater devices and the like.

It may be desirable, as shown in FIGLS, to start winding on a spindle of somewhat less size with a rope ortape such as indicated at 12, until a mass ofsome size has been built up. Thereafter, the end of the material to be wound is attached to the outer end ofthe material 10, and the package is wound as in FIG. 1. When the package is compressed to an elliptical shape, the inner end .of the material 12 is led out through the hole 8. When such a package is shipped, the heavy material in the interior prevent inward collapse of the innermost coils of the package. When it is to be paid out, the material 12 is first drawn out through the hole and discarded whereafter the inner end of the package is drawn out through the hole for payout without twist.

Iclaim:

l. A package comprising a plurality of layers each formed of a plurality of figure figure-eight type coils, thewidth of the package decreasing from the innermost layer to the outer layers, the package having a radial opening through the wall thereof, the package having an internal axial opening and having an external shape which is substantially elliptical in a plane transverse to the axis of the package and substantially circular in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ellipse, said radial opening being positioned in one of the ends of the ellipse and the inner end of the material being led out through such radial opening.

2. A packageas claimed in claim lhaving .within said axial opening a material of substantially larger cross section than said flexible material, said material being wound in a plurality of figure eights and substantially filling said axial opening, the inner end of said material being led out through said radial opening and the inner end .of the flexible material being attached to the outer end of such largerxmaterial.

3. A method of producing a package of flexible material,

whichcomprises producing such motion between a spindle and a guide as to cause the material to lay the flexible material up on the spindle in the form of a plurality of layers each composed of a plurality of figure eights, the crossovers of the figure eights progressing around the spindle, gradually reducing the relative travel between the spindle and the guide so liptical form.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 in which the compression is transverse to the axis of the radial opening so that the opening is in one of the ends of the elliptical package. 

1. A package comprising a plurality of layers each formed of a plurality of figure figure-eight type coils, the width of the package decreasing from the innermost layer to the outer layers, the package having a radial opening through the wall thereof, the package having an internal axial opening and having an external shape which is substantially elliptical in a plane transverse to the axis of the package and substantially circular in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ellipse, said radial opening being positioned in one of the ends of the ellipse and the inner end of the material being led out through such radial opening.
 2. A package as claimed in claim 1 having within said axial opening a material of substantially larger cross section than said flexible material, said material being wound in a plurality of figure eights and substantially filling said axial opening, the inner end of said material being led out through said radial opening and the inner end of the flexible material being attached to the outer end of such larger material.
 3. A method of producing a package of flexible material which comprises producing such motion between a spindle and a guide as to cause the material to lay the flexible material up on the spindle in the form of a plurality of layers each composed of a plurality of figure eights, the crossovers of the figure eights progressing around the spindle, gradually reducing the relative travel between the spindle and the guide so that the width of the layers formed on the spindle decreases outwardly, forming a radial opening in the material through the wall of the package, removing the package from the spindle and compressing the package inwardly in a direction transverse to the axis of said radial opening into a substantially elliptical form.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 3 in which the compression is transverse to the axis of the radial opening so that the opening is in one of the ends of the elliptical package. 